scholarly journals Chinese Medicines Improve Perimenopausal Symptoms Induced by Surgery, Chemoradiotherapy, or Endocrine Treatment for Breast Cancer

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Hongsheng Lin ◽  
Weihong Cong
Author(s):  
Tazia Irfan ◽  
Mainul Haque ◽  
Sayeeda Rahman ◽  
Russell Kabir ◽  
Nuzhat Rahman ◽  
...  

Breast cancer remains one of the major causes of death in women, and endocrine treatment is currently one of the mainstay of treatment in patients with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Endocrine therapy either slows down or stops the growth of hormone-sensitive tumors by blocking the body’s capability to yield hormones or by interfering with hormone action. In this paper, we intended to review various approaches of endocrine treatments for breast cancer highlighting successes and limitations. There are three settings where endocrine treatment of breast cancer can be used: neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic. Several strategies have also been developed to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer which include ovarian ablation, blocking estrogen production, and stopping estrogen effects. Selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs) (e.g. tamoxifen and raloxifene), aromatase inhibitors (AIs) (e.g. anastrozole, letrozole and exemestane), gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH) (e.g. goserelin), and selective estrogen receptor downregulators (SERDs) (e.g. fulvestrant) are currently used drugs to treat breast cancer. Tamoxifen is probably the first targeted therapy widely used in breast cancer treatment which is considered to be very effective as first line endocrine treatment in previously untreated patients and also can be used after other endocrine therapy and chemotherapy. AIs inhibit the action of enzyme aromatase which ultimately decrease the production of estrogen to stimulate the growth of ER+ breast cancer cells. GnRH agonists suppress ovarian function, inducing artificial menopause in premenopausal women. Endocrine treatments are cheap, well-tolerated and have a fixed single daily dose for all ages, heights and weights of patients. Endocrine treatments are not nearly as toxic as chemotherapy and frequent hospitalization can be avoided. New drugs in preliminary trials demonstrated the potential for improvement of the efficacy of endocrine therapy including overcoming resistance. However, the overall goals for breast cancer including endocrine therapy should focus on effective control of cancer, design personalized medical therapeutic approach, increase survival time and quality of life, and improve supportive and palliative care for end-stage disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (17) ◽  
pp. 2826-2839 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Caputo ◽  
Daniela Cianniello ◽  
Antonio Giordano ◽  
Michela Piezzo ◽  
Maria Riemma ◽  
...  

The addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to hormonal therapy is often considered questionable in patients with estrogen receptor-positive early breast cancer. Low risk of disease relapse after endocrine treatment alone and/or a low sensitivity to chemotherapy are reasons behind not all patients benefit from chemotherapy. Most of the patients could be exposed to unnecessary treatment- related adverse events and health care costs when treatment decision-making is based only on classical clinical histological features. Gene expression profile has been developed to refine physician’s decision-making process and to tailor personalized treatment to patients. In particular, these tests are designed to spare patients the side effects of unnecessary treatment, and ensure that adjuvant chemotherapy is correctly recommended to patients with early breast cancer. In this review, we will discuss the main diagnostic tests and their potential clinical applications (Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, PAM50/Prosigna, EndoPredict, MapQuant Dx, IHC4, and Theros-Breast Cancer Gene Expression Ratio Assay).


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanne Løkkegaard ◽  
Daniel Elias ◽  
Carla L. Alves ◽  
Martin V. Bennetzen ◽  
Anne-Vibeke Lænkholm ◽  
...  

AbstractResistance to endocrine therapy in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer is a major clinical problem with poorly understood mechanisms. There is an unmet need for prognostic and predictive biomarkers to allow appropriate therapeutic targeting. We evaluated the mechanism by which minichromosome maintenance protein 3 (MCM3) influences endocrine resistance and its predictive/prognostic potential in ER+ breast cancer. We discovered that ER+ breast cancer cells survive tamoxifen and letrozole treatments through upregulation of minichromosome maintenance proteins (MCMs), including MCM3, which are key molecules in the cell cycle and DNA replication. Lowering MCM3 expression in endocrine-resistant cells restored drug sensitivity and altered phosphorylation of cell cycle regulators, including p53(Ser315,33), CHK1(Ser317), and cdc25b(Ser323), suggesting that the interaction of MCM3 with cell cycle proteins is an important mechanism of overcoming replicative stress and anti-proliferative effects of endocrine treatments. Interestingly, the MCM3 levels did not affect the efficacy of growth inhibitory by CDK4/6 inhibitors. Evaluation of MCM3 levels in primary tumors from four independent cohorts of breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant tamoxifen mono-therapy or no adjuvant treatment, including the Stockholm tamoxifen (STO-3) trial, showed MCM3 to be an independent prognostic marker adding information beyond Ki67. In addition, MCM3 was shown to be a predictive marker of response to endocrine treatment. Our study reveals a coordinated signaling network centered around MCM3 that limits response to endocrine therapy in ER+ breast cancer and identifies MCM3 as a clinically useful prognostic and predictive biomarker that allows personalized treatment of ER+ breast cancer patients.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 771
Author(s):  
Tessa A. M. Mulder ◽  
Mirjam de With ◽  
Marzia del Re ◽  
Romano Danesi ◽  
Ron H. J. Mathijssen ◽  
...  

Tamoxifen is a major option for adjuvant endocrine treatment in estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer patients. The conversion of the prodrug tamoxifen into the most active metabolite endoxifen is mainly catalyzed by the enzyme cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6). Genetic variation in the CYP2D6 gene leads to altered enzyme activity, which influences endoxifen formation and thereby potentially therapy outcome. The association between genetically compromised CYP2D6 activity and low endoxifen plasma concentrations is generally accepted, and it was shown that tamoxifen dose increments in compromised patients resulted in higher endoxifen concentrations. However, the correlation between CYP2D6 genotype and clinical outcome is still under debate. This has led to genotype-based tamoxifen dosing recommendations by the Clinical Pharmacogenetic Implementation Consortium (CPIC) in 2018, whereas in 2019, the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) discouraged the use of CYP2D6 genotyping in clinical practice for tamoxifen therapy. This paper describes the latest developments on CYP2D6 genotyping in relation to endoxifen plasma concentrations and tamoxifen-related clinical outcome. Therefore, we focused on Pharmacogenetic publications from 2018 (CPIC publication) to 2021 in order to shed a light on the current status of this debate.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Carsten Nieder ◽  
Adam Pawinski

Elderly patients with breast cancer often present with symptomatic, locoregionally advanced rather than screening-detected disease, thereby increasing the risk of metastatic recurrence during their remaining life time. Typical sites of metastases include lungs, bones, liver, and brain. Here we present a patient who developed a solitary urinary bladder metastasis five years after primary diagnosis of stage T4 N0 estrogen receptor-positive lobular carcinoma, while on continued adjuvant endocrine treatment (91 years of age). Anemia and increased serum creatinine resulting from hydronephrosis led to diagnosis of metastatic disease, which was confirmed by transurethral resection. The patient responded clinically to palliative radiotherapy and a different type of endocrine therapy. One year after diagnosis of metastatic disease, she died without signs of cancer progression.


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 798-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy U. Lin ◽  
Eric P. Winer

Hormone receptor-positive cancers are the most common tumor subtype among postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Despite substantial improvements in disease-free survival and overall survival with tamoxifen and chemotherapy, recurrences still occur, and may ultimately lead to death from breast cancer. Importantly, disease recurrence includes both early and late events, with over half of all recurrences detected more than 5 years from initial breast cancer diagnosis. In recent years, a number of large, randomized trials have evaluated the role of the aromatase inhibitors (AIs) in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. These studies have tested one of three approaches: (1) an upfront AI, (2) a sequential approach after 2-3 years of tamoxifen, and (3) extended endocrine therapy beyond 5 years. Results of these studies have challenged the previous standard of a 5-year course of tamoxifen alone. While the AIs have become a standard component of treatment for most postmenopausal women, many questions remain as to how best tailor endocrine treatment to individual patients. In addition, despite the gains achieved with the AIs, many recurrences are not prevented, and novel strategies are urgently needed, particularly for those women at high risk of recurrence. In this article, we review the efficacy and toxicity data from the available trials of endocrine therapy in the postmenopausal setting. We outline controversies in choosing the optimal endocrine approach, and we discuss selected ongoing studies. Finally, we highlight future research directions, such as the need to understand host and tumor heterogeneity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document